Moving On
by TsukunetheDamphir
Summary: Gray comes to terms with the battle against Zeref's kingdom


**Moving On**

 **Please note that this story is intended to be a tear jerker. No happy ending. And this isn't canon since the manga hasn't gotten this far yet, I just felt inspired after Juvia's death. And the whole story will be Gray's perspective.**

Walking back into the guild, Gray had been expecting cheers to erupt when he entered. Instead he found nothing but sullen, downcast faces looking at him. Most of their eyes were red and puffy, as if they had been crying. But they had already gotten over Juvia, for the most part. They all felt her being gone, but none more acutely than he did. He was getting better though; mostly, because he knew it couldn't get any worse.

"What's up with you guys?" he asked, referring to their sad looks, "You look like everything happy in the world just disappeared."

"We found him," Erza replied, her eyes puffier than the rest, "We found Natsu." Natsu had kind of disappeared after his battle with Zeref. They all assumed he was taking a giant nap or something.

"So why do you guys look sad? That's a reason to celebrate, right?" he asked, confused. His question made Lucy start bawling her eyes out, and many of the others looked to be on the verge of tears as well.

"I said we found him Gray," Erza said, fighting back tears, "I never said we found him alive." Gray's world stopped. " _They can't be serious, right?! I mean it's Natsu; he's practically invincible!_ " Gray thought.

"Not funny guys," Gray replied not, believing them for an instant.

"Gray, if you want to go see for yourself, go to the place we buried him the first time we thought he was dead," she snapped, the tears falling freely.

"Fine! I will!" he snapped back, getting angry, "And when I get back, I want an apology!" Fuming, he stormed out towards where they had buried Natsu the first time, which was also the place he buried Juvia. " _How dare they! Don't they know how hard it is for me to accept Juvia being dead!? This isn't the time to be….,"_ He stopped mid thought, his mind not registering what he saw. There, on Natsu's fake grave, was his scarf, stained with blood.

"No…," he said walking over to the grave, checking it for mistakes. There were none; they had even changed the date from his fake death to yesterday's. That's he knew they weren't lying or joking around. They would never go that far for a prank.

Tears started to fall, as the rain started to come down with them, as if the sky felt his sadness. He'd already lost Juvia to that battle, now Natsu as well? They had always been fighting, but he had always been Gray's best friend. Gray would never have admitted that due to their rivalry, but he knew he'd never have to say it anyways. Everyone already knew. The grief hit, and Gray fell over the edge.

"Ice Make: Dagger," he whispered, a dagger forming in his hands. " _I can't deal with it anymore. I've already lost so much to Zeref. Ur, Ultear, Juvia, and now him? I can't take it anymore!"_ Placing the dagger at his heart, Gray got ready to drive it through his body. Just as he started to do the movement, he heard a voice.

" **Oi, what do ya think you're doing?** " it asked. Gray stopped at the voice, recoiling in shock. It was Natsu's voice. Looking around after it, he found that all the raindrops were suspended mid air. The world looked gray, and nothing was moving. " **I'll ask again, what do ya think you're doing?** "

Looking to Natsu's grave, Gray found the fire-breather himself standing on top of it. Only, Natsu seemed transparent, ghostly even. "So you're really dead huh?" he asked, dropping the dagger.

Nodding, Natsu spoke again. " **Ya, what're you gonna do about it?** " he asked.

"I can't take it anymore," Gray said, breaking down at last, "Four of the closest people in my life died to Zeref's self loathing. I just can't take it anymore; I want it to end." Tears fell down Gray's cheeks, while his body shook uncontrollably.

" **Hmmph! Did you already forget what we died for?!** " Natsu yelled angrily. Gray's breath stopped, his body going still, " **Me and Juvia, did you forget what we died for? We died so you could live. So Fairy Tail could live. And you're just gonna throw in the towel, and make our sacrifices useless? That's not how a Fairy Tail member does things!** "

Realization dawned on Gray, as he finally stopped to think about what he was doing. "You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't think about how it would affect the sacrifices you two made, or how it would affect the guild for that matter. So I'm sorry."

" **Hmmph, I'm always right. You're just too dumb to see it Ice Princess.** " Ghost Natsu said, smirking.

"Hey shut up Flame Bra..," Gray stopped as he saw Natsu had disappeared and the rain had started again. He sat back on his knees, and let the rain soak him, as if cleaning the dark thoughts on his body. Hearing something clatter to the ground, Gray looked and found a bowl with flint and steel right beside it. They had wanted to light a fire the old fashioned way for Natsu the first time around, but ended up not doing it.

Crawling over to the bowl, Gray sheltered it with his body. There was already tinder inside it, dry as a bone by some miracle. Picking up the flint, Gray lowered it to the bowl and and struck it with the steel in his other hand. The moment the flint and steel met, he had a flashback to when Natsu first joined the guild.

*Cue Fairy Tail sad music*

" _Hey, what's your deal? You got a problem with me or somethin?" a younger gray asked, looking a younger Natsu._

" _So what if I do?" he said, staring Gray down._

" _Gray, you're clothes," a younger Cana pointed out._

" _Aw man!" he said, trying to figure out where his clothes went._

" _Jeez what a pervert," Natsu said, turning his back._

" _Huh, who you calling a pervert pinky?!" Gray yelled, pressing his forehead against Natsu's._

" _You, ya loud mouth streaker!" Natsu replied._

Striking the steel again, another memory came back. This one of him about to use Iced Shell on Lyon.

" _I've prepared for this, good friend, since 10 years ago," Gray said._

" _Are you serious?" Past Lyon asked._

" _Answer me. Lyon, do you wanna die together? Or do we go on living?" Gray asked._

" _Do it. You don't have the courage to kill yourself," Lyon responded._

" _That's too bad. Iced Shell!" Gray yelled, preparing the attack._

" _Shut up!" Natsu said, punching him in the face._

" _Natsu!" Gray yelled._

" _You can't just come in and steal the show with a bunch of fancy talk. Get to the back of the line pal." Natsu snapped back._

The tears started to fall as with each strike, he remember Natsu more. First of them on Nirvana, then on Tenroujima, then the Magic Games. Each strike brought back more memories. And finally the tinder caught fire, as Gray leaned down to breathe on it gently to make the flames stronger. He added nearby twigs to the flame. As they started to burn, he placed the bowl on Natsu's grave, bringing back one last memory.

" _I'm impressed. My magic's at zero," Natsu said, as he was forced to the ground by Mard Geer._

" _DIE!" Geer yelled, shoving Natsu down to earth._

" _But, I believe too," Natsu said, as Gray stood up and formed a bow of ice, "GRAY!"_

" _Ice Demon Zero's Destruction Bow!" Gray yelled firing an arrow of ice, piercing Mard through the stomach, killing him._

" _Heh," they both said at the same time._

Gray placed his hand on the grave, with tears running down his face. "Goodbye, my frie….brother."


End file.
